Mo. Journalism School receives $30 million gift

Missouri School of Journalism Dean Dean Mills acknowledges the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and other contributors who have helped fund and run the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute today at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Missouri School of Journalism Executive Director Randy Picht introduces a video on the Reynolds Journalism Institute today at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

KBIA File Photo
/ KBIA

A University of Missouri journalism think tank has received one of the largest gifts in school history to continue research into the digital future of news.

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation donated 30.1 million dollars to sustain the Reynolds Journalism Institute, which focuses on research and innovation in journalism. The new donation establishes a permanent endowment fund to cover the institute's ongoing operating expenses. The Foundation’s President Steven Anderson says the money will be used to fund RJI indefinitely.

“We want to be able to help the industry find new ways to use the technology that are emerging, we have some fellows now working on a twitter project, and we have a lab downstairs devoted to Windows 8, which is new. The opportunities are just amazing,” said Anderson.

The endowment gift will be dispersed in June 2015 after the foundation’s $15 million donation from 2009 runs out. The 30.1 million dollar gift is the second largest in university history and the largest endowment gift.